59-year old Miguel Gutierrez, the former deputy for the Modern Revolutionary Party, pleaded guilty in Miami, Florida to conspiring to distribute cocaine and asset laundering in order to reduce his sentence on charges of international drug trafficking. He is in jail in Florida for criminal activity from 2014 to 2020 in the Dominican Republic and the United States.
According to the plea bargain document signed between the parties, the former Dominican congressman admitted his guilt in trafficking 5,000 kilograms of drugs worth US$7.5 million.
The document adds that Gutierrez Mejía “consciously and deliberately conspired with other people to distribute a controlled product.”
In the first count, he admitted guilt in drug trafficking beginning in or around 2014 and continuing through 2020 and around that date, in Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties, in South Florida, and in the countries of the Dominican Republic, Colombia and other places.
According to prosecutors at the US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Florida handling the case, Gutiérrez could face penalties ranging from life in prison to 10 years in prison followed by a probation sentence of at least five years and a fine of up to US$10 million.
The media reported that the deal obliges Gutierrez to deliver assets, including around two dozen Rolex watches.
Meanwhile, local press focused on the low productivity in Congress of the ruling party deputy for the province of Santiago.
Despite allegations of Gutierrez’s involvement in drug trafficking to explain his wealth, the ruling party stood behind the deputy and he remained in the position for years.
Gutierrez was arrested at Miami International Airport on 17 May 2021 and charged with international cocaine trafficking.
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3 January 2024